In the thirteenth year of Danyang, on the fifth day of the ninth month, Fu’an Village welcomed its first snow of the year.
The snowflakes clumped together, like goose feathers, drifting down lightly from the sky.
In the blink of an eye, white replaced the earthy yellow, covering the entire ground.
While sweeping the snow from her doorway with a broom, Old Mrs. Xu gazed out toward the main gate.
No one had expected the snow to fall so early this year. Every family had just finished harvesting the grain from their fields and hadn’t yet had time to stock up on firewood for the winter.
Her old man and two sons had gone into the mountains early in the morning to gather firewood and had not yet returned, but the snow was already getting heavy.
As she watched a new layer of snowflakes fall on the area she had just swept, Old Mrs. Xu heard the door to the fourth son’s room open.
Looking up, she saw her fourth daughter-in-law emerging from the room, cradling her belly.
Old Mrs. Xu’s brow furrowed tightly as she looked at her fourth daughter-in-law’s pointed belly.
Last night, she’d had a dream. In the dream, a hundred beasts surrounded a small Golden Phoenix. Then, the Golden Phoenix flew into her fourth daughter-in-law’s belly, after which Li Shi gave birth to a beautiful, jade-like little girl.
Their old Xu family was actually going to have a daughter who was the reincarnation of a Golden Phoenix. Old Mrs. Xu had literally woken up laughing from the dream.
Upon waking, Old Mrs. Xu turned over and saw Xu Lao Nian’er, who had also just woken up laughing.
The two of them had woken up laughing at the same time, and both were quite curious about what the other had dreamt.
When they asked each other, they discovered they had had the exact same dream.
This was extraordinary!
They had never heard of two people having the exact same dream!
The old couple was no longer sleepy. After some discussion, they concluded that this must be because the Golden Phoenix was to be reincarnated into their family, and the gods in heaven had sent them a dream to tell them to treat the Golden Phoenix well.
Originally, Old Mrs. Xu had firmly believed in what she saw in her dream, but now, looking at Li Shi’s pointed belly, she felt a little uncertain.
The old saying went that a pointed belly meant a boy, and a round belly meant a girl.
With her fourth daughter-in-law’s belly being so pointed, how could she possibly give birth to a girl?
Could it be that it was really just a dream?
As she was thinking, Old Mrs. Xu looked up and saw Li Shi walking toward her, seemingly wanting to take the broom from her hands.
“Fourth Brother’s wife, the snow is heavy today, so you shouldn’t come out. Let Liu Shi and Zhao Shi do the outside chores.”
Hearing her mother-in-law’s words, Li Shi nodded meekly and obediently turned back to her room, cradling her large belly.
She had to listen to her mother-in-law. Before, she listened to her husband; now that her husband was gone, she listened to her father-in-law and mother-in-law.
Liu Shi, who had just come out of her own room, curled her lip upon hearing Old Mrs. Xu’s words.
“Fourth Sister-in-law, hurry back inside and rest. You’re not like us. You’re precious now. You’re all that’s left of Fourth Brother’s line. We’re counting on your baby to continue his lineage, so you absolutely mustn’t have any slips or falls!”
Glancing at her mother-in-law and Li Shi’s pointed belly, Liu Shi spoke in a sarcastic tone.
The old lady was being too biased. Just because she was pregnant, the fourth son’s wife could slack off?
When they were pregnant, they hadn’t been spared a single chore.
Never mind whether the fourth son’s wife could even produce a boy. Even if it was a boy, with the fourth son gone now, could the old couple really count on the baby in her belly to care for them in their old age? Wouldn’t they still have to rely on the eldest and second sons?
Lost in her thoughts, Liu Shi didn’t notice that Zhao Shi, who had emerged from her room a step behind her, had remained silent the whole time.
The more she thought, the more wronged she felt, and it began to show on her face. She looked up and saw her mother-in-law staring fixedly at her with a cold expression.
In the Xu family, the most authoritative figure was not Xu Lao Nian’er, but Old Mrs. Xu.
The old lady had the final say in all matters, big and small.
Startled by Old Mrs. Xu’s cold face, Liu Shi’s sense of grievance instantly vanished.
She stammered, her mouth opening and closing, but ultimately didn’t dare to say another word and hurried to the kitchen.
After her eldest sister-in-law entered the kitchen, Old Mrs. Xu let out a cold snort. Zhao Shi quickly took two steps forward and took the broom from Old Mrs. Xu’s hands.
“Mother is right. Counting the days, Fourth Brother’s wife is about to give birth. Look at that pointed belly of hers, she’s sure to give Fourth Brother a boy! Mother will get to hold another grandson.”
Zhao Shi giggled as she spoke, sweeping half-heartedly.
She wasn’t as foolish as Liu Shi, wearing all her thoughts on her face and not knowing how to speak properly.
She hadn’t managed to vent her anger and had only earned their mother-in-law’s displeasure.
Their mother-in-law was clearly already unhappy, so she had to say what the old lady liked to hear.
But she never expected that this time, her flattery would backfire.
After hearing her words, not only did Old Mrs. Xu not show a hint of a smile, but her expression grew even colder than before.
Snatching the broom back from Zhao Shi’s hand, Old Mrs. Xu lifted her chin and gestured toward the kitchen.
“Yes, Fourth Brother’s wife is about to give birth. Before she goes into labor, you and Liu Shi can pickle the cabbage in the courtyard after dinner. You probably won’t have time in a few days.”
After dropping this cold statement, Old Mrs. Xu ignored her second daughter-in-law and turned back to the main house.
Staring at Old Mrs. Xu’s back, Zhao Shi stood frozen in place.
Didn’t their old lady usually love to hear about having grandsons? Why was it that when she said it today, the old lady became even more displeased?
She glanced at the pile of cabbage in the courtyard.
All that cabbage had to be washed before it could be pickled.
The family’s firewood was already in short supply; her mother-in-law would never let them boil water to wash the cabbage.
On such a cold day, washing this entire pile of cabbage with cold water would probably give them chilblains.
In the evening, Xu Lao Nian’er returned with his two sons, pushing a flatbed cart loaded with firewood.
With the men back, Liu Shi and Zhao Shi served dinner.
As they ate coarse grain rice with stewed cabbage, Zhao Shi kept giving Liu Shi meaningful looks.
The two had agreed in the kitchen to ask their mother-in-law during dinner if they could boil some water to wash the cabbage.
But the meal was almost over, and Liu Shi hadn’t said a word, making Zhao Shi anxious.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t seen her second sister-in-law’s signals, but Liu Shi didn’t dare to move.
Just as she was about to speak, her mother-in-law had shot her a glare, scaring her so much she nearly choked on a mouthful of cabbage.
So now, even though Zhao Shi was practically rolling her eyes to signal her, she could only pretend not to see.
Because Liu Shi wouldn’t cooperate, the plan to persuade Old Mrs. Xu failed.
After dinner, when Old Mrs. Xu once again mentioned the cabbage in the courtyard, Zhao Shi’s face turned green.
Just as Zhao Shi and her eldest sister-in-law were discussing whether they should just act first and report later, a cry of pain suddenly came from the fourth son’s room.
Before the two of them could react, Old Mrs. Xu rushed out of her own room, holding a paper packet.
Seeing the two of them, Old Mrs. Xu immediately roared, “What are you standing there for! Eldest’s wife, hurry and boil water, a whole pot! Second’s wife, prepare a bowl of sugar water and send it to the fourth son’s room!”
With that, she stuffed the paper packet into Zhao Shi’s arms and ran back toward the fourth son’s room.
Zhao Shi and her eldest sister-in-law stared at each other, holding the brown sugar.
At this moment, they were sincerely grateful to their fourth sister-in-law.
Although Li Shi would get to drink the brown sugar water they had never had, at least they could now openly boil water.
And maybe, just maybe, they could sneak a sip of the sugar water themselves.
Never mind the two sisters-in-law coveting the brown sugar water; the moment Old Mrs. Xu entered the fourth son’s room, her brow furrowed.
Li Shi was lying on the kang bed, her face pale, the hair stuck to her cheeks matted with sweat.
A thin mattress was spread beneath her, and now both it and her clothes were completely soaked.
It was clear that Li Shi was in extreme pain. Even though her tightly bitten lip was already bleeding, intermittent, pained moans could still be heard escaping.
Seeing her fourth daughter-in-law’s condition and checking the wetness of the mattress, Old Mrs. Xu’s heart sank.
Her fourth daughter-in-law’s water had probably almost completely broken!
Wasting no more time, Old Mrs. Xu turned and rushed back to her own room, retrieving a heavy little pouch from under her pillow.
Grabbing her two sons, who had also come out to see what the commotion was about, Old Mrs. Xu shoved the small pouch into her second son’s hand.
“Quick! Er Zhu, your fourth sister-in-law is having a difficult birth! Hurry and get Doctor Ji! Go as fast as you can, go now!”
Although their second son was not as strong, when it came to running, none of the young men in the village could beat him.
Seeing how anxious his mother was, Xu Er Zhu didn’t say another word. He took the pouch, turned, and ran out.
Doctor Ji lived on the other side of the village. The baby in Li Shi’s belly was the fourth brother’s only child; he had to run.
Who would have known that just as Xu Er Zhu was preparing to sprint at full speed, he would open the courtyard gate to see pairs of green, glowing eyes right outside their door.
His legs went weak with fright, and Xu Er Zhu fell to the ground with a thud.